A couple of months ago I bought a couple of blueberry and goji berry plants from Blackmoor Nurseries, near Liss in Hampshire who specialise in fruit trees and soft fruit. They were reasonably priced, the plants arrived quickly and in very good condition plus I was not charged any extra for delivery to the Isle of Wight but check if you are ordering trees. Their site contains loads of information about growing fruit including the online ‘Fruit Growers Handbook‘ with lots of info about Planting, Pruning, Soft Fruit Culture, Calendar of Care, Pest and Disease, Pollination. Since my order they have sent me their monthly Newsletter which is packed with useful information which I have pasted below.
Top fruit
· Water all recently planted fruit plants – trees on dwarfing rootstocks and wall-trained fruit may continue to need watering in dry weather in future years. It is much better to water thoroughly rather than watering little and often. Once soil is moist keep it that way by mulching wherever possible.
· Remove blossom from newly planted fruit trees – the trees will need all their energy to establish well.
Keep 1 square metre of ground weed-free around all fruit trees and bushes throughout their lives. Established fruit trees on vigorous rootstocks can have grass growing right up to the trunk, but otherwise grass and weeds will simply compete for food and water.
· Start formative pruning of new plums – invest in a good book, with diagrams to help. Lightly thin and de-shoot wall-trained peaches and nectarines (and rub out wayward shoots/buds on wall-trained plums and damsons). At the end of May to early July shorten leaders on mature top fruit trained as cordons, fans or espaliers.
· If you have recently purchased pot grown container fruit pot them up into pots that are slightly larger than the plant’s root area (7.5cm larger). Liquid feed every few weeks to get a good yield.
· One of the best loved fruits are strawberries, their sweet taste is irresistible to almost everyone. They crop in the first year and are an excellent choice for the novice fruit grower.
Strawberry plants have a 3 year cycle; the first year you get a small crop, the second year a large crop, and possibly in the third year too. But after three years, they lose their vigour, so you need to replace your plants.
Mulch with straw to protect fruit
Place straw underneath strawberry plants to protect the fruits from touching the soil or getting splashed with mud. Also, straw will reflect heat and help your strawberry crop ripen. Net the strawberries once the fruits start developing to deter birds. Peg down netting to prevent birds getting trapped or tangled up.
Mulch around other soft fruit with newspaper and straw or grass cuttings. This will help retain moisture over the summer. When the mulch is removed in the autumn, many pest larvae will be taken with it.
· Keep the atmosphere moist around vines growing undercover by damping down the floors on warm days, until flowering begins. Once flowering, keep the atmosphere on the dry side to encourage pollination. It may be necessary to gently shake the rods to encourage a good fruit set, for best results do this at midday.
Start summer pruning outdoor vines by rubbing out unwanted buds and cutting the new shoots back to about 60cm (24in). Do not prune the two replacement shoots, which will later be trained.
Pest watch
· Close your fruit cage if you haven’t already done so, and cover other areas of fruit with netting at the end of May to stop birds eating the developing fruit. Birds often peck fruit for the water contained inside, so provide water in the garden for birds to drink instead.
· Towards the middle of the month put up codling moth traps – the traps contain a codling moth hormone to attract male moths. Once trapped the moths are no longer available for mating, so the females cannot produce fertile eggs. You will need one trap for every three to five trees. Available from the sundry section on our website.
· Look out for pear leaf blister mite. The first signs are pinkish-red pustules which develop on unfurled pear leaves at blossom time. Subsequently, yellow, red or green blisters can be seen on both sides of infested leaves. There is no cure for infested leaves. Damage to the tree is seldom serious and fruiting is not affected except in extremely heavy infestations. Pick off damaged leaves as soon as you see them to break the cycle.
· Scab on apples and pears – the spores of apple scab are with us all the time, but it is the exact combination of air temperature and humidity that causes the spores to germinate and infect newly emerging leaves. Some research has shown that flame-weeding around the base of trees at the beginning of May reduces the amount of spores by about 85%.
Also, pick off and destroy any leaves that have over wintered on the tree and prune out and destroy any diseased twigs.
· Pick off and destroy the emerging larvae of apple and plum sawfly at petal fall to catch them before they start tunnelling into fruit. You will need to inspect your trees closely around the fruiting spurs. The creamy white larvae are about 15mm long.
· Carry out a thorough weekly inspection of gooseberries from May onwards concentrating in the centre of the bush for larvae of gooseberry sawfly. Pick off and destroy. The first signs of trouble are pinpricked leaves at the base of the plant. The larvae will rapidly skeletonise leaves if you don’t act fast.
· Check all fruit trees and bushes regularly for aphids – To help combat aphids grow plants that attract beneficial insects. Ladybirds, lacewings and hoverflies are all natural predators of aphids. Their larvae are particularly voracious feeders. Limnanthes douglasii, common name poached egg plant is a true ally to a fruit grower.
· Apple powdery mildew is a common disease – it can be a problem all through the summer with a white powdery coating appearing first on leaves and shoots. Blossom may be affected, causing it to wither and drop.
The threat of peach leaf curl has passed, so it’s okay to remove the barrier. However, peaches will relish the extra warmth that the barrier provides so leave it on if you like. Collect up fallen leaves that have been affected by peach leaf curl. The leaves should be broken down in a sealed black sack or taken to your local green waste site where they will be composted at high temperature.
